North Country woman pleads guilty to smuggling over 200 turtles and reptiles into Canada

Syracuse, NY -- A North Country woman who smuggled more than 200 turtles, alligators, iguanas and other wildlife into Canada pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Syracuse.

The endangered and threatened animals were worth "hundreds of thousands of dollars," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Benedict in a news release.

Olivia Terrance, 28 of Hogansburg, NY, faces up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine when sentenced Aug. 5, Benedict said.

Court papers show she smuggled the rare animals across the Saint Lawrence River into Canada on the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, which spans both countries. The animals were transported on two dates: by car on July 8, 2009 and by boat Aug. 4, 2010, according to a memorandum by U.S. District Court Judge Norman Mordue.

Terrance was delivering the animals to her cousin, Dennis Day, in Canada, to sell to retailers and collectors, prosecutors said.

The smuggling was described in court papers:

Day would place orders for the various turtles and reptiles with unnamed "suppliers" in the U.S., and Terrance would transport them to him in Canada.

Authorities first found out about the scheme when Canadian customs officers stopped Terrance on July 8, 2009 as she tried to drive into Canada. They found "alligators in a bag under her feet and turtles on the backseat" of her car.

She was denied entrance to Canada, and sent to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services officers, who warned her about the smuggling laws.

In June 2010, FedEx's security division alerted authorities that Terrance was receiving weekly shipments of wildlife to her home in Hogansburg. On Aug. 4, FedEx tipped off FWS officers about a shipment coming that day.

Later that day, both American and Canadian law enforcement officers watched by car and helicopter as Terrance crossed the river in a boat with the smuggled animals.

Canadian officials took Day into custody, but Terrance ran back to her boat and escaped back into the United States. Terrance was interviewed by U.S. agents later that day and denied the accusations. She was later indicted.